Priya Kapoor
The Dream of the Fisherman's Wife, a woodblock print by Japanese artist Hokusai, is a famous work of erotica depicting a woman entwined sexually with a pair of octopuses. The work has inspired several artists to create similar works, including Félicien Rops, Auguste Rodin, Louis Aucoc, Fernand Khnopff, and Picasso. The Tamatori story, a popular subject in ukiyo-e art, is similar to Hokusai's work, often featuring bare-breasted divers and octopuses. Other artists such as Utagawa Kuniyoshi and Yanagawa Shigenobu have also created works with similar themes.
| Characteristics | Values |
|---|---|
| Artist | Katsushika Hokusai |
| Date | 1814 |
| Genre | Shunga (erotic art) |
| Medium | Woodblock print |
| Dimensions | 19 cm x 27 cm, 7.4 inches by 10.5 inches |
| Location | British Library, London |
| Derivative works | Picasso, Rodin, Félicien Rops, Louis Aucoc, and Fernand Khnopff |
| Similar works | Yanagawa Shigenobu's Suetsumuhana (1830), Utagawa Kuniyoshi's Tamatori series |
| Themes | Eroticism, female sexual power, tentacles, interspecies entanglement |
| Influence | Tentacle erotica in modern Japanese manga and anime, Toshio Maeda, Masami Teraoka |
| Interpretations | Rape scene, female pleasure, mutual pleasure, female sacrifice, male domination |
| Cultural context | Edo-period Japan, good luck charm, ukiyo-e (floating world) |
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What You'll Learn
'The Fisherman and His Wife' as a German fairy tale
"The Fisherman and His Wife" is a German fairy tale collected by the Brothers Grimm and published in the first edition of Kinder- und Hausmärchen in 1812 as tale number 19. It is a tale of Aarne-Thompson type 555, about dissatisfaction and greed, and may be classified as an anti-fairytale. The Brothers Grimm's source for the tale was the German painter Philipp Otto Runge (1777–1810), from whom they obtained a manuscript of the tale in 1809.
The story goes that a poor fisherman lives with his wife in a hovel by the sea. One day, the fisherman catches a fish that claims to be able to grant wishes and begs to be set free. The fisherman's wife demands that her husband ask the fish for more and more extravagant things, such as a palace, to be made King, Emperor, and Pope. Each time, the fisherman knows that his wife's wishes are wrong, but he cannot reason with her. The fish grants all of the wishes, and each time, the sea grows rougher and rougher.
Eventually, the wife wishes to command the sun, moon, and heavens, and she sends her husband to the fish with the wish "I want to become equal to God". The fish tells the fisherman to go home, saying that his wife is back in her old hovel. And with that, the sea becomes calm once more, and the fisherman and his wife are living once again in their old, dirty home.
The tale is similar to other stories from around the world, including the German "Hanns Dudeldee", the Russian "The Old Man, His Wife, and the Fish", the Japanese "The Stonecutter", and the Indian "The Bullock's Balls". French author Edouard Laboulaye published a literary reworking of an Estonian tale titled "The Fairy Crawfish", which also involves a magical creature granting wishes to a poor fisherman and his nagging wife.
The story of "The Fisherman and His Wife" has also been adapted into other forms, including a short cartoon on the American animated television series, The Rocky and Bullwinkle Show, and a 1997 Spanish-flavoured adaptation on the animated TV series Happily Ever After: Fairy Tales for Every Child.
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Other AT-555 tales with similar plots
The story of "The Fisherman and His Wife" is an AT-555 type tale about dissatisfaction and greed. It is a German fairy tale collected by the Brothers Grimm in 1812. The story revolves around a poor fisherman who, after catching a wish-granting fish, finds himself caught between his newfound wealth and his wife's insatiable greed. Similar tales from different cultures explore similar themes of greed, dissatisfaction, and the consequences of unchecked desires. Here are some examples:
Hanns Dudeldee (Germany): This German tale, similar to "The Fisherman and His Wife," also deals with greed and the consequences of unchecked desires.
The Old Man, His Wife, and the Fish (Russia): In this Russian tale, an old man and his wife encounter a wish-granting fish, leading to a series of events that mirror the themes of greed and dissatisfaction.
The Stonecutter (Japan): A Japanese tale with parallels to "The Fisherman and His Wife," where a stonecutter wishes to be something other than himself, only to find dissatisfaction and a lesson in contentment.
The Bullock's Balls (India): An Indian story that explores similar themes of greed and the consequences of excessive desires.
The Fairy Crawfish (Estonia): Retold by French author Edouard Laboulaye, this story features a poor fisherman, Loppi, who finds a magical crawfish granting wishes. While Loppi is content with little, his nagging wife, Masica, continuously demands more, echoing the greed and dissatisfaction seen in "The Fisherman and His Wife."
My Old Woman Must Be Paid (Iceland): An Icelandic folktale featuring an elf named Kidhus, known for his thievery. When he steals a golden ball from a fisherman's wife, the couple demands more and more until their greed leads to their downfall.
These tales, similar to "The Fisherman and His Wife," showcase the universal themes of greed, dissatisfaction, and the consequences of unchecked desires, providing a window into different cultures and their interpretations of these timeless themes.
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The Tamatori story as a popular subject in ukiyo-e art
The Tamatori story was a popular subject in ukiyo-e art, with artists like Katsushika Hokusai, Utagawa Kuniyoshi, and Yanagawa Shigenobu illustrating different segments of the tale. Ukiyo-e, meaning "images of the floating world," was a prominent aspect of Japanese visual culture during the Edo period. This art form, characterised by its lack of perspective and smooth colours, had a profound influence on 19th-century European art.
Hokusai's "The Dream of the Fisherman's Wife" is part of this ukiyo-e tradition. This woodblock print, crafted in 1814, depicts a naked woman entwined sexually with a pair of octopuses. The image is often interpreted as a forerunner of tentacle erotica, a motif popularised in modern Japanese manga by author Toshio Maeda. However, unlike modern depictions where sex is typically forced, Hokusai's work portrays a mutually pleasurable interaction.
Kuniyoshi's works based on the Tamatori story often include octopuses among the creatures being evaded by a bare-breasted diver. In one of his woodblock prints, he depicts Tamatori's escape from Ryūjin and his sea creatures, including an octopus. Shigenobu, a contemporary of Hokusai, also created an image similar to "The Dream of the Fisherman's Wife" in his collection "Suetsumuhana" in 1830.
Hokusai's "The Dream of the Fisherman's Wife" has had a wide influence on artists, both in Japan and the West. It inspired works by Félicien Rops, Auguste Rodin, Louis Aucoc, Fernand Khnopff, and Picasso. Masami Teraoka, a modern Japanese-American artist, has also created images of women, including a recurring "pearl diver" character being pleasured by cephalopods, influenced by Hokusai's print.
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The influence of Hokusai's print on modern Japanese animation and manga
Katsushika Hokusai is widely recognised as one of Japan's greatest artists. He is known for modernising traditional print styles through his innovations in subject and composition. He was among the first artists to be influenced by and influence globalisation, borrowing from and influencing European artists.
Hokusai's work, "The Dream of the Fisherman's Wife", is considered one of the most iconic and provocative works in the genre of shunga, or erotic art. The work depicts a young ama diver entwined sexually with a pair of octopuses. It is included in the second volume of "Kinoe no Komatsu" ("Young Pines"), a three-volume book of shunga first published in 1814. The image is often cited as a forerunner of tentacle erotica, a motif that has been popular in modern Japanese animation and manga since the late 20th century. Modern depictions typically involve forced sexual interactions between women and tentacled beasts, differing from Hokusai's image of mutually pleasurable interactions.
Hokusai's work has had a wide influence on modern Japanese-American artist Masami Teraoka, who has created images of women, including a recurring "pearl diver" character being pleasured by cephalopods, as a symbol of female sexual power. The influence of "The Dream of the Fisherman's Wife" can also be seen in the work of Picasso, who, in 1903, drew a cruder and more upsetting variation of the image, and in 1932, painted a series of reclining nudes that seemed to have become part octopus.
Hokusai is also considered by some to be the father of modern manga. In the late 1700s and early 1800s, he created illustrations for the "yellow cover" or kibyōshi genre of popular comic fiction for adults, which scholar Adam Kern calls 'comic books'. These works shared several aspects with modern manga, such as humour and a wide variety of poses and expressions. The simple line art and lively depiction of people and landscapes in Hokusai's ukiyo-e style also resemble the visual style found in modern Japanese manga and anime.
Overall, Hokusai's work, including "The Dream of the Fisherman's Wife", has had a significant influence on modern Japanese animation and manga, both directly and indirectly, through its impact on artists around the world.
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The influence of Hokusai's print on Western artists
Katsushika Hokusai's "The Dream of the Fisherman's Wife" is a woodblock print crafted in 1814 during the Edo period. It is a part of volume 2 of a three-part series of erotic prints titled "Kinoe no Komatsu" or "Pine Seedlings". The print depicts a young ama diver entwined sexually with a pair of octopuses. This image is often cited as a forerunner of tentacle erotica, a motif that has been popular in modern Japanese animation and manga since the late 20th century.
Hokusai's work has had a profound influence on European art of the 19th century and modern Japanese-American artists. When it arrived in the West, "The Dream of the Fisherman's Wife" made a significant impression on the art community. Artists like Félicien Rops, Auguste Rodin, Louis Aucoc, Fernand Khnopff, and Picasso created works inspired by the interspecies entanglement depicted in Hokusai's print. Picasso, for instance, painted a series of reclining nudes where the women seem to have become part octopus, capable of onanistic pleasure.
Hokusai's work also influenced Edgar Degas, who drew on Japanese prints for inspiration for his paintings of entertainers, women bathing, and scenes of daily life. The influence of ukiyo-e prints on Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec was also significant, particularly in his use of solid areas of color and outlined figures, and his revelation that louche life—late-night scenes, the dark corners of restaurants, and prostitutes—could be the subject of art. Other artists influenced by Hokusai's work include Gauguin, Monet, Bonnard, and Vuillard.
Hokusai's "The Dream of the Fisherman's Wife" continues to be a source of inspiration and influence for artists, with annual retrospectives held in honor of the iconic and provocative work it represents in the history of art.
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Frequently asked questions
The painting depicts a young ama diver entwined sexually with a pair of octopuses. The larger of the two performs cunnilingus on her, while the smaller one fondles her mouth and left nipple.
The painting is part of a three-volume book of Japanese erotica, or shunga, entitled "Kinoe no Komatsu" or "Pine Seedlings". Each volume features nine scenes of women participating enthusiastically in their own pleasure. The image is often cited as a forerunner of tentacle erotica, which has become popular in modern Japanese animation and manga.
The painting is a Japanese woodblock print crafted during the Edo period.
"The Fisherman and His Wife in an Interior" by Quiringh van Brekelenkam is a similar painting that depicts a fisherman and his wife in a domestic setting. Other similar paintings include works by Félicien Rops, Auguste Rodin, Louis Aucoc, Fernand Khnopff, and Picasso, who all created works inspired by the interspecies entanglement depicted in "The Dream of the Fisherman's Wife".
